The company said in a statement accompanying its chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Tuesday that it required court protection from creditors to reorganize its business.

Aging out?

The turmoil afflicting the maker of guitars favored by Neil Young, Jimmy Page and Slash is a common story across the industry.

Over the past decade, electric guitar sales have plummeted, from about 1.5m sold annually to around 1m. In 2010, sales of acoustic guitars outstripped electric. Some industry analysts thank Taylor Swift for that shift.

Like Gibson, Fender, which had to abandon a public offering in 2012, has struggled under debt. The US’s largest retail guitar supplier, Guitar Center, recently had its corporate credit rating downgraded to junk status by S&P after racking up debts of $1.6bn.

According to Digital Music News, “younger buyers, who once drove the guitar surge, have now shifted towards [EDM], rap, and less guitar-driven indie music – even though interest in music itself has never been higher.”

.. gave my son 1/2 the dough for his Gibson Les Paulsame as with his Ovation turtleshell accoustic with a pickup & plugbut this Christmas I gave everyone importanta Gibson thermal undershirt (rage reviews)and my sweet fiancee struts the black or the grey/greenyes I gave her both.. logo is down low on the rightas fashion wear.. and absolutely slays her music biz associatesone of whom is an iconic Canadian musician

They gnash their teeth that they have nothing like thembut I spotted a basketful at an obscure music shopin November and started buying different sizesClassics now, I suppose.. but in the music biz highly recognized

Maybe Martin next year.. who knows..Will have to start sniffing in more obscure guitar shops

I can't see Gibson folding. The guitar line is too iconic. The creditors in these things tend to have two options. Sell the company as a going concern or work a deal - "take a haircut" - that often involves trading debt for an equity position, usually with management changes. In this case it seems like it was bad judgment on the part of current management that brought Gibson down.

The third option is to burn the place down. Sell the inventory. Lay off the employees. Everybody gets a few cents on the dollar and writes off the rest. That does not sound realistic.